Asante Akyem North NPP Primary: Expunged delegates withdraw legal suits

Some 145 New Patriotic Party delegates of the Asante Akyem North Constituency who say their names were fraudulently removed from the party’s photo album in its recently held parliamentary primaries have announced that they have instructed their lawyers to withdraw all suits filed against the party.

A statement signed by the leaders of the expunged delegates said, "We have been educated by our lawyers that an injunction is a discretionary relief so we knew our wish, to maintain the status quo pending the final determination of the case substantive, could be granted or refused. We note that four separate spirited applications to have the main case thrown away never materialized, and we thank our legal team led by Samson Lardy Ayenini for a good job done.”

The group added that “On Tuesday, 6 October 2020, our lawyers filed for directions so that the trial of the case can start. We have faith that in the end, the evidence of the fraud which we have submitted to the court by way of the original and tampered photo albums would have become obvious. It is beyond dispute that the names of the undersigned; Kwabena O. Frimpong, Festus Enyan, Joseph Anyang, Kwaku Oduro, Faustina ASANTE, Adu KONKONI and 139 other plaintiffs were fraudulently removed from the original delegate's album. This is the reason for the spirited attempts to have the case dismissed instead of it being determined on merit.”

“We also take note of the comment by the court that in the end, it is what the court will say that will hold regardless of the stage of the election process. Nonetheless, we have met as Plaintiffs and deliberated over the case and its potential impact on the party when it is determined in our favour. We have decided and are instructing our lawyers to take steps to immediately withdraw both the pending contempt application and the main case.”

“On the four occasions that the four applications against the suit were dismissed or struck out as withdrawn, for obvious reasons and prompting of the court, the court stressed that cost should be waived against the Defendants because "this is a family matter". Again, settlement of the case out of court has always been spoken about, privately and publicly by party leaders. We, therefore, do not wish to proceed any further with the case,” it added.

Read below the full statement put out by the group on Thursday, October 8, 2020,:

For Immediate Release

9th October, 2020

WITHDRAWAL OF SUIT; KWABENA O. FRIMPONG AND OTHERS VRS. THE NPP, ANDY APPIAH KUBI AND THE EC.

On Thursday, 18th June, 2020, we filed a suit against the evidently fraudulent tampering of the NPP Constitueny delegate’s photo album for the Asante Akyem North Constituency. We also filed an injunction which was however delayed and refused by the court only last week. We had been educated by our lawyers that an injunction is a discretionary relief so we knew our wish, to maintain the status quo pending the final determination of the case substantive, could be granted or refused. We note that four separate spirited applications to have the main case thrown away never materialized, and we thank our legal team led by Samson Lardy ANYENINI for a good job done.

On Tuesday, 6th October, 2020, our lawyers filed for directions so that the trial of the case can start. We have faith that in the end, the evidence of the fraud which we have submitted to the court by way of the original and tampered photo albums would have become obvious. It is beyond dispute that the names of the undersigned; Kwabena O. FRIMPONG, Festus ENYAN, Joseph ANYANG, Kwaku ODURO, Faustina ASANTE, Adu KONKONI and 139 other plaintiffs were fraudulently removed from the original delegate's album. This is the reason for the spirited attempts to have the case dismissed instead of it being determined on merit.

The NPP’s report on the Parliamentary primaries nationwide also confirmed that no primaries were held in our constituency. We also take note of the comment by the court that in the end, it is what the court will say that will hold regardless of the stage of the election process. Nonetheless, we have met as Plaintiffs and deliberated over the case and it’s potential impact on the party when it is determined in our favour. We have decided and are instructing our lawyers to take steps to immediately withdraw both the pending contempt application and the main case. On the four occasions that the four applications against the suit were dismissed or struck out as withdrawn, for obvious reasons and prompting of the court, the court stressed that cost should be waived against the Defendants because "this is a family matter". Again, settlement of the case out of court has always been spoken about, privately and publicly by party leaders. We therefore, do not wish to proceed any further with the case.

.....Signed......

Kwabena O. FRIMPONG

(020-4910050)

Festus ENAYN

(024-6221223)

Joseph ANYANG

Kwaku ODURO

Faustina ASANTE

Adu KONKONI